Google To Offer Out-Of-Print Scanned Books To Rivals
September 10 2009 - 3:29PM
Dow Jones News
Google Inc. (GOOG) will give its competitors access to the
out-of-print books it is making available online through its Google
Books platform, the company's chief legal officer told members of
Congress Thursday.
"Google will host the digital books online, and retailers such
as Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your local bookstore will be able
to sell access to users on any Internet-connected device they
choose," David Drummond, Google's top lawyer, said in a statement
that was released during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.
Drummond said the company's rivals would get much of the revenue
when they re-sold out-of-print books that are made available by
Google.
Lawmakers called the hearing to examine Google's pending legal
settlement with authors and publishers that would allow the company
to make millions of digitized books available on the Internet.
Drummond, attempting to alleviate concern that the agreement
would give Google too much power in the digital-books market, said
the company's legal settlement was fully compliant with copyright
law and would improve the public's access to millions of
titles.
Google reached the settlement deal last year, agreeing to pay
$125 million to establish a registry to allow authors and
publishers to register their works and get paid when their titles
are viewed online.
The search giant came under strong criticism at Thursday's
hearing from the head of the U.S. Copyright Office, who told
lawmakers that key parts of the Google agreement "are fundamentally
at odds with the law."
Marybeth Peters, the register of copyrights, said in written
testimony that the Copyright Office was particularly concerned that
the settlement would allow Google to display and distribute
out-of-print books without prior consent from the copyright owners
of those books.
"To allow a commercial entity to sell such works without consent
is an end-run around copyright law as we know it," Peters said.
"In the view of the Copyright Office, the settlement proposed by
the parties would encroach on responsibility for copyright policy
that traditionally has been the domain of Congress," she said.
The settlement must be approved by a New York federal judge, who
has scheduled a hearing for Oct. 7 to consider the matter.
Supporters and critics of the settlement have flooded the court
with comments on the pending agreement.
Antitrust regulators at the U.S. Department of Justice also are
looking at the settlement. The judge has set a Sept. 18 deadline
for the department to file its views with the court.
The House Judiciary Committee heard Thursday from several
supporters and critics of the Google book search settlement.
Among the witnesses was Paul Misener, Amazon.com Inc.'s (AMZN)
vice president for global public policy, who continued the online
bookseller's attack on the settlement. Misener told lawmakers that
the deal would have enduring negative consequences for consumers
and Google's competitors.
Amazon filed a brief in the New York court last week, arguing
that the agreement would increase how much consumers pay for
digital books and undermine Congress's role in amending copyright
law to address changes in technology.
-By Brent Kendall, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9222;
brent.kendall@dowjones.com